A proven leader in providing healthy meals to older adults, Meals on Wheels San Antonio was awarded a major contract by the city’s Department of Human Services to serve approximately 700,000 meals a year and up to 2,700 meals daily to adults 60 years and older in San Antonio’s neighborhood senior centers starting in January.
The San Antonio City Council granted the Senior Nutrition Program contract to Meals on Wheels San Antonio at the Oct. 8 council meeting from its current vendor San Antonio-based Selrico Services, Inc. who had the contract since 2004. The one-year contract is valued at $2.46 million with four additional one-year renewal options up to $3.9 million annually. The Senior Nutrition Program is funded by the city and the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services through the Alamo Area Council of Governments and is currently offered at various senior centers throughout the city. Funding for additional years will be subject to performance review and City Council approval of the annual budget. The city has provided the meal program since 1973.
Meals on Wheels’ extensive local experience with senior nutrition for more than 43 years as well as familiarity with monitoring agencies helped it rise to the top of the list of competitors. Through the current program, meals are prepared and delivered through contracted vendors to 52 sites (pre-COVID) in and around San Antonio and must comply with the Federal Senior Nutrition Program grant requirements and Metro Health Food Safety Guidelines. Spouses of adults 60-years and older and children with disabilities are also provided free meals in the Senior Nutrition Program.
“We take great pride in receiving this vote of confidence from the San Antonio City Council,” said Vinsen Faris, CEO of Meals on Wheels San Antonio. “It our mission to serve seniors with both the nourishment and care they deserve. It is especially important during this pandemic to ensure our city’s most vulnerable population receives the specific meals they need, in recipes they enjoy, and wraparound resources that will bolster their quality of life. We are delighted to enrich the Senior Nutrition Program with all we have learned about older San Antonians in the last four decades.”
Competitors for the contract were given points for a variety of criteria. Meals on Wheels had the most points for items, such as having a pristine kitchen, plans to add more vehicles to its operations for meal delivery, and procedures for training and onboarding new staff. Meals on Wheels also demonstrated it will create new resources for the Senior Nutrition Program, including Alzheimer’s/Dementia training, caregiver resources, and help with providing seamless transition to seniors to Homebound Services when necessary.
Learn more about the City of San Antonio Senior Nutrition Program by clicking here.
If you are a senior center interested in learning more about our services, please call 210.735.5115.